Please remember in your prayers Dr. Michelle (Shelly) Nordtorp-Madson, art history professor emerita, who died Nov. 2.
A Celebration of Life will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, at the Cremation Society of Minnesota, 7110 France Avenue S., Edina.
Nordtorp-Madson retired in 2017 after 24 years at St. Thomas as a teacher, curator, collections manager and student mentor.
“I had the great pleasure to work with Shelly for 16 years and what I’ll remember the most is her humor, wit and the pure delight she took in us as colleagues but more important, in her many students over the years,” said Dr. Victoria Young, chair of the art history program in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“She loved her family and shared with us who were just starting our own, the tips and tricks for working parents. I always felt like I had a supporter in everything I did when I talked to her; she uplifted us all,” Young said.
“And she was funny. Sarcastic. Sassy. Clever. ‘Proceed until thwarted’ is a Shelly-ism that I continue to employ in my life,” Young continued. “I am so grateful to her for all she gave to us in her role as colleague, mentor, curator, teacher and friend. We are truly a better department because of Shelly’s time with us. We all miss her deeply.”
Marria Thompson, who earned a master’s degree in art history in 2011, said Nordtorp-Madson was “an outstanding mentor and teacher, colleague and friend to me. … I was fortunate to experience her encouragement firsthand and how her careful mentoring could propel so many undergraduate and graduate students to achieve greatness with their own research.
“Shelly’s beautiful energy was contagious, and her witty humor was always on hand for the right moments,” Thompson said. She has followed in Nordtorp-Madson’s footsteps in curating the Department of Art History Gallery and caring for the University of St. Thomas art collection.
Nordtorp-Madson is survived by her husband, Lennart Nordtorp Nielsen, and daughter, Kirstine, as well as other family and friends.
Photos and remembrances can be found at: rememberingshelly.weebly.com.
